Page 41 of Checkmate
“He’ll thank everyone for coming,” she whispered. “And tell them how overwhelmed he is by their support.”
“First of all, I want to thank you all for coming. The amount of support you’ve shown tonight is overwhelming.”
“Uncanny,” Marcus whispered back to her. “Not very genuine, is it? So what happens next?”
“He’ll mention a few important people by name, saying he is really happy to see them.” She smirked as Alex mentioned various members of the London Group by name, showering them with compliments.
Marcus was right.
Nothing about this speech was genuine, every line was perfectly picked to shed Alex in the best light. She used to think it was important that he was prepared, but now she saw it for what it was.
“He’s going to tell everyone how none of the night could happen without his brilliant wife,” she said with a sigh. “So I think we—”
“Of course, tonight wouldn’t be possible without the help of my brilliant wife. Erica, where are you, darling?”
Not giving herself time to think, Erica squeezed Marcus’ arm, laughing loudly at some imagined joke.
He moved his arm around her as though holding her up as he laughed with her, catching up fairly quickly.
She could feel the tension in the room change as a few whispers ran through the gathered guests, but she paid them no mind.
Her eyes met Marcus’ as they shared a look, and she knew that this moment had bonded them for life.
There were certain things you can’t come back from and having an entire room gossip about you based on a brief glimpse into your life was one of them.
“Um, Erica?”
She finally looked up and covered her mouth as though she was fighting to control herself. She had never heard Alex sound so unsure as he did at that moment.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, covering her face. “I’m so embarrassed. Sorry, darling.” She broke away from Marcus, rushing to Alex’s side.
But not before she made one more show of defiance. Turning her head to catch Marcus’ gaze, she smirked.
“I’ll catch up with you later,” she said in a loud whisper.
The look in his eye made her heart leap as he nodded in response. “I’ll hold you to that, Erica.”
She didn’t dare look at Alex as she joined his side and he continued his speech. But she didn’t need to.
Her little display had the desired effect, and the seed of doubt had been planted in Alex’s mind.
All that she needed now was to nurture those seeds until they blossomed into full-blown paranoia and heartache.
It wasn’t any less than the cheating bastard deserved.
Chapter 11
Alex
“You really fucking embarrassed me, Eri. Christ, even Sophie behaved better tonight.”
It was a low blow, but no less true. He wasn’t sure what had happened to his normally attentive wife this evening, but she’d gone from loving and dutiful to aloof and unpredictable.
Who could have imagined she would hit it off with Marcus so completely?
And there was no getting around that fact.
Everyone who saw them tonight could tell they had a connection. Alex just had to figure out what kind of connection.
